SOUTH AMERICA. 289 

 It is to be hoped that some future wanderer through the Fourth 



Journey. 



wilds of Guiana, will be more fortunate than I have been, 



and catch this nocturnal depredator in the fact. I have once 

 before mentioned that I killed a Vampire which measured 

 thirty-two inches from wing to wing extended ; hnt others, 

 which I have since examined, have generally been from 

 twenty to twenty-six inches in dimension. 



The large humming-bird, called by the Indians Kara- Ti»e Kara- 

 bimiti, invariably builds its nest in the slender branches 

 of the trees which hang over the rivers and creeks. In 

 appearance, it is like brown tanned leather, and without 

 any particle of lining. The rim of the nest is doubled 

 inwards, and I always conjectiu-ed that it had taken this 

 shape, on account of the body of the bird pressing against 

 it, while she was laying her eggs. But this was quite a 

 wrong conjecture. Instinct has taught the bird to give 

 it this shape, in order that the eggs may be prevented 

 from rolling out. 



The trees on the river's bank are particularly exposed to 

 violent gusts of wind, and while I have been sitting in 

 the canoe, and looking on, I have seen the slender branch 

 of the tree which held the humming-bird's nest so vio- 

 lently shaken, that the bottom of the inside of the nest 

 has appeared, and had there been nothing at the rim to 

 stop the eggs, they must inevitably have been jerked out 

 into the water. I suspect the humming-bird never lays 

 more than two eggs. . I never found more than two in 



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